Gibraltar Literary Festival 2016

Antony will be discussing his career and life in and out of the kitchen.

Work with Rebecca exclusively, following her Thursday event.

Novelist, journalist and business coach, Rebecca Abrams explains how understanding the architecture of storytelling is essential for professional women, and explores ways of harnessing strong storytelling to the service of authentic and effective business. Find out in this lecture if your leadership story needs a tweak, a second draft, or a radical rewrite.

Lord West will set the scene with the Grand Strategic position in Europe and the significance of the maritime. Then run through the 1805 maritime campaign and the chase of the French Fleet by Nelson leading up to the great sea battle of Trafalgar which ultimately led to the defeat of Napoleon and establishment of the Pax Britannica. Gibraltar’s strategic importance will be highlighted in the course of the talk.

Sue will be chairing a version of her Radio 4 programme ‘A Good Read’, where well-known authors, Maureen Lipman and Tony Hawkes review their favourite books.

In our tormented times where violence and rigid claims for identity prevail, tolrance and mutual understanding between people from different faiths and cultural backgrounds can only be built with patience and engagement. « Come To My Home », a concept launched (see internet site : cometomyhome.ma)under the auspices of « La Fondation des Cultures du Monde », a Moroccan NGO, few years ago, is devoted precisely to this aim through « creative cultural dialogue ». “Poetry and Music for Peace and Love” is The concert which will be given during the 2016 Gibraltar Literary Festival by four artists from Morocco with ten poems in a mix of English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian representing many different cultures : Imru Al Kaïs (Stop O my friends), Rumi (Look at Love), Kabir (Do not go to the Garden of Flowers), Dante (Exerts from The Divine Comedy), Keats (Bright Star), Verlaine (Familiar Dream), Tagor (When though commandest me to sing), Birago Diop (Sighs), Gibran (Tell us about love)) , Federico Garcia Lorca (Serenata).

How I arrived at writing my debut novel The Royal Secret and the story of its principal character nowadays little known to the public, but still the subject of scholarly debate as to who he really was or said to be.  An Elizabethan genius whose reputation had been ruined by his detractors both in his own time and since, which my account refutes. My presentation will discuss little known secrets of his extraordinary life and how his knowledge provides the link between the distant past and the world we live in today, as he was a writer, philosopher, prince, scientist and statesman at the time of the European Renaissance and its transition in human thought and action.

My account in The Royal Secret is told as a mystery thriller through the eyes of a modern day older woman whose life is in danger by questioning her personal Holy Grail. Consequently the subject matter covers topical present day events and politics and its origins in the Freemasons and Templars, with aspects of religion and rebellion, espionage and eugenics, philosophy and politics from the past to the present day.

Bographer Paula Byrne previews her forthcoming book about Kathleen ‘Kick’ Kennedy, the vivacious and clever sister of JFK who charmed the English aristocracy but was almost erased from her family history.

Kathleen arrived in England in 1938 after her father was appointed ambassador. Byrne explains how her wit, aloofness and sexual charisma fascinated the British public. She met and fell in love with Britain’s most eligible bachelor, William ‘Billy’ Cavendish, heir to the Duke of Devonshire and Chatsworth. The eventual marriage to Anglican Billy in 1944 met with the disapproval of the Catholic Kennedys. Billy died shortly afterwards in combat and Kick four years later in a plane crash. Byrne says Kick was more than just a sister to the famous Kennedy brothers. She was a force in her own right but one that was hidden from the family history.

Byrne is author of a number of biographical works includingJane Austen and the Theatre, Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinsonand Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. Kick will be published in May.

In this talk, Gibraltarian-born poet Gabriel Moreno, explains the movement towards unity between Mediterranean sources of poetical inspiration and the the English language in his 2015 publication, The Moon and the Sparrow. Based on a journey from Sicily to Portugal in 2005, the book The Moon and the Sparrow, is a collection of poetry which delves into the heart of the Southern Mediterranean landscape but does so with the surgical knife of the English word. Cities like Naples, Palermo, Rome, Montpellier, Jerez or Granada serve as funnels for the questioning mind of the traveler/poet who analyses his past, present and future from an Anglo-Saxon perspective, without neglecting the debt of passion and emotion the scenery demands. In this talk Gabriel Moreno will explain how this dichotomy of perspectives constitutes one of the most interesting features of the Gibraltarian identity and how he was searching for his own voice as a Gibraltarian and as a poet in exploring these concepts. In addition, Moreno will read some of the poems dedicated to Gibraltar and other Southern European cities, in the travelling book.

Nick Rankin, once Chief Producer at BBC World Service, has written works of literary and military history, whereas Maggie Gee, Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature, is a novelist and short story-writer, but the twenty books they have written over more than three decades of marriage have often intertwined. 30 years ago they both wrote books about Bournemouth and Paris, but this time Gibraltar is the arena of their friendly rivalry.

Maggie has set off in pursuit of Gibraltar’s Neanderthals, who she hopes will populate her fourteenth novel, which ranges from the deep past of Gorham’s Cave to the late 21^stcentury. Nick has written Defending the Rock, forthcoming next year from Faber, a book about Gibraltar in wartime that focuses on the decade from 1935 to 1945, covering the Spanish Civil War and the conflict in Abyssinia as well as the Second World War. Coming here as outsiders, they know they still have a lot to learn, but they have been helped and welcomed by many people. Nick and Maggie will talk about the inspiration that Gibraltar and its inhabitants have given them and the sometimes comic process of how they research, write and edit their books side by side.  

Pam talks about the transition of her life from her childhood growing up in Berkshire in the immediate post-war years of the 1950s, to becoming a best-selling author and performer, as described in her best-selling memoir, The Necessary Aptitude. She will also read poems from her most recent book, You Made Me Late Again!

Brian Christian is the author of The Most Human Human, which was named a Wall Street Journal bestseller and a New Yorker favorite book of 2011, and has been translated into ten languages. He is the coauthor, with Tom Griffiths, of Algorithms to Live By, available Spring 2016.

Christian’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic,Wired, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Paris Review, and in scientific journals such as Cognitive Science. Christian has been featured on The Charlie Rose Show and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and has lectured at Google, Microsoft, the Santa Fe Institute, and the London School of Economics. His work has won several awards, including fellowships at Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, publication in Best American Science & Nature Writing, and an award from the Academy of American Poets.

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Christian holds degrees in philosophy, computer science, and poetry from Brown University and the University of Washington. He lives in San Francisco.

Yoga has become a multibillion dollar commodity with over 30 million people in the US alone practising one form or another of Yoga. What are all these practitioners practising? Is it just to make the body fit and flexible and make one feel calmer by breath control? Where did the forms of practice seen today in the yoga studios come from? Are they traceable to earlier forms and texts within the Indian traditions, particularly Hinduism? What does Patanjali have to say about ‘authentic’ Yoga in what has come to be known as the Classical text of Yoga called the Yogasutra? 

We reflect on the answers to these questions and look at Patanjali’s text in detail and trace some of the developments in Yoga philosophy and practice from ancient times.

Comedian and bestselling author will be making jokes, telling stories and talking about his latest book 'Once Upon A Time in the West Country'. Along with some very jolly slides he'll be explaining how he and his partner Fran left the big city bad started a new life in rural Devon. Learn how not to grow your own veg, how to become chairman and run a village hall badly, and how to cycle coast to coast with a small pig. Yes, really - a pig, called 'Titch'.

How many plays did Shakespeare write? Which feature ghosts? Which are non-fiction and which are made up? Celebrate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare with festival favourite Christopher Lloyd and a giant version of his What on Earth? Wallbook of Shakespeare, published in collaboration with The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. This unique voyage through the plays of Shakespeare is suitable for all ages and explores the world of human emotion using different colours to represent jealousy (green), anger (red), riches (gold), love (purple), terror (white) and magic (black). Using a series of props hidden inside a coat of many multi-coloured pockets pockets, the audience explores the world of Shakespeare as a gateway to the entire spectrum of human nature.

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as a stroke, Alzheimer's and dementia, are now tragically commonplace within the western world. Our brains are a strange and complex organ, and there is much to be discovered about what causes them to fail in such devastating ways.

In this book Kathleen Taylor presents the ever-developing research into the cause and cure of these life-changing conditions, focusing on insights arising from the relatively new field of neuroimmunology - the increasing recognition of the important role of the immune system in the brain. Interweaving the latest scientific ideas on neurodegenerative diseases with accounts of the devastation which illnesses affecting the brain can cause to sufferers and to anyone who cares about them, Fragile Brains is not only an important account of current research in this field, but a very personal study. As instances of dementia rise in our ageing populations, many harbour anxieties concerning the future. This book is about knowing the enemy.

Broadcaster and entertainer Nicholas Parsons presents a portrait of the nonsensical genius Edward Lear and conveys a rounded picture of the man’s amazing life and unusual personality.  He illustrates Lear’s remarkable fantasy world though skillful and sympathetic delivery of his highly imaginative and delightful nonsense verse.

This event is based on Parsons’ one man show on Lear, who is best remembered for his nonsense verse including The Owl and the Pussycat, The Jumblies and The Pobble and The Dong with a Luminous Nose. Parsons will give a picture of Lear’s life, background, family and work and deliver poems to illustrate how they arose naturally out of the fantasy world he created to survive the difficulties of his personal life.

Parsons has worked in every branch of show business including serious acting, comedy performance, stand-up and cabaret. He first made his name in 1960s television in partnership with fellow comedian Arthur Haynes. Parsons is best known as the host for 48 years of BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute, and as presenter of television’s Sale of the Century, which ran for 14 years. He starred in the West End of London in a number of plays and musicals.

Professor Murdo MacDonald will revisit and expand a talk he delivered at the British Museum earlier this year as part of the exhibition, Celts: Art and Identity.

A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Professor Macdonald will explore the wider international dimensions of the Scottish art and literature of the Celtic revival, in terms of European links and with respect to cultural revival in India and Japan.

His talk is illustrated with the works of Scottish artists and other key European painters such as JMW Turner and JAD Ingres.  

His talk will encompass the mid-18thcentury to the present.

Justin Bautista, will be discussing Gibraltarian food and its influence on local culture in an ‘In Conversation’ event.

Choose ten key moments in the story of British history from 1066 to the present day and what would they be? TAKE AN EPIC VOYAGE through the history of Britain with Christopher Lloyd and Andy Forshaw’s amazing new What on Earth? Wallbook Timeline of British History! The timeline, developed in collaboration with the National Trust, takes readers on a journey through the complete history of Britain from the Giant’s Causeway 60 million years ago to the present day. Using a giant 8m version of the timeline as a backdrop and an all-new technicolour coat of many pockets, Christopher stops off at 10 of the most significant moments that have shaped our island story over 60 million years. Talk suitable for all ages 6 – 106. 

Celebrity chef and restauranteur Antony Worrall Thompson prepares lunch for guests at the O’Callaghan Eliott Hotel and says a few words about his life as a chef. Thompson trained as a chef before opening his own restaurants.

He became a household name after regular appearances on BBC2’s Food and Drink and on Ready Steady Cook. He went on to present Saturday Kitchen. He has written 32 books including Antony Makes it Easy, Barbecues and Grilling and Real Family Food.

Today, Thompson is most likely to be found at one of his two restaurants, The greyhound in Oxfordshire and Kew Grill in London. He says he is passionate about the everyday use of everyday ingredients.

Hear about the exciting adventures of five hoofed friends in Anna Bogie’s Happy Hooves series. Writing in rhyme, Anna reveals how the farmyard animals use the power of teamwork to overcome challenges, and the importance of friendship. All three books are accompanied by Rebecca Elliott’s exquisite, bold and colourful illustrations.

Anna was inspired to write the Happy Hooves series after she moved out to Gibraltar in 2006, appreciating the beautiful views across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco, and enjoying trips to the beautiful and rustic coast of the Costa De La Luz. Anna lives in Gibraltar with her husband and three children. 

Anna is running a special event for children (the books are aimed at 2 - 6 years olds) where she will be reading her books and running fun craft activities for the children to enjoy. This will be a special and informal event to amuse and entertain the young ones, and to promote a love of reading.

Note: Children (under 12) go free but must be accompanied by an adult.

Felix Francis will speak about growing up with Dick Francis as a father and how discussion over the breakfast table was more likely to be about whether someone could survive the night with a bullet in his guts rather than more mundane everyday topics, such as who was taking the kids to school. Felix will explain how his father progressed from being a champion steeplechase jockey for the Queen Mother into one of the best-loved thriller writers of the twentieth century. Felix will also describe how, almost by accident, he gave up teaching A-level Physics to take over the writing of the “Dick Francis” franchise from his father, and how he now sets about writing a new novel every year. In particular he will speak about his eleventh book, the recently published Triple Crown, and also about the next one, which is already in production. Felix will describe what he thinks are important components of a bestselling mystery novel and how he does his best to incorporate all of them into his stories. He will explore the age-old question of whether characters or plot are the more important, and will finish with a light-hearted question and answer session with nothing off limits.

During his years in the UK he has worked with successful individuals and discovered many interesting things, some of which he has investigated for some time. With the help of leading professionals Christian has been able to unravel some of the mysteries of the creative mind and develop a whole new approach towards self development and the visual language. He hopes to share these findings with you and hopefully offer a new range of possibilities. 

The handwriting of a child gave him an insight into our own natural rhythm. When this innate spacing is applied to a creative process, the result is always a portrait of the artist. 

Robert Montagu speaks to Paul Blezard about the abuse suffered at the hands of his MP father, Victor Montagu, the 10th Earl of Sandwich.  The abuse was revealed publicly for the first time in his recently published memoir, A Humour of Love. The book is one that Montagu initially planned to write as fiction under a pseudonym because of the painful nature of the story, but ultimately decided it was right to speak openly about. It is the disturbing tale of how a father confused lust and love and abused an innocent seven-year-old on an almost daily basis until he was 11.

Guillem Balague is a key fixture in Sky Sports' coverage of Spanish football, appearing regularly both on live match coverage and on the weekly round-up show, Revista de La Liga, of which he is now presenter. He is also the UK Correspondent for AS, the Madrid-based Spanish sports newspaper. His work appears regularly in Yahoo.com, the biggest web page in the world, and The Telegraph.

He also wrote the bestselling "A Season on the Brink", an insider's account of Liverpool's 2004-05 Champions' League winning campaign, updated later with the 2006 FA Cup victory. 

In November 2012 he published the first international biography of Pep Guardiola, based on conversations with him, his former players and Pep's closest friends. It was short listed for Football Book of the year both in the United Kingdom and Germany.

In 2013 he wrote the first authorised account of the life of Leo Messi, full of insight and conversations with coaches, players, teachers and his family. The four years of his time with Pep Guardiola were analysed by Pep himself exclusively. The book, ‘Messi’ was shortlisted for the Football book award in the UK in 2014.

As well as two football diaries (of the 2012 European Championships and the 2014 World Cup), he has published in the autumn of 2014 the Official History of FC Barcelona.

In November 2015, he published 'Cristiano Ronaldo, the biography’ which recently won the Football Book of the Year Award at the Sportswriters Awards.

He has written or worked for Marca, The Times, The Observer, Talk Sport, BBC, Cadena Ser, 442, World Soccer, Champions magazine, and many other publications in Spain, Britain and worldwide.

Guillem has most recently interviewed the following personalities: Josè Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Pep Guardiola, Manuel Pellegrini, Alex Ferguson, Carles Puyol, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Rafa Benítez, Samuel Etoo, David Villa, David Beckham, Raul, Xavi, Iniesta, Van Nistelrooy, Robben, Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher, Kenny Dalglish, Fernando Torres, Mikel Arteta, Frank Rijkaard, Gianluca Vialli, David Moyes, Xabi Alonso, Harry Redknapp, Mark Hughes, Alex McLeish, Roy Hodgson, Gilberto Silva, Steve McClaren, Alan Curbishley, Nico Kranjcar, plus a host of other influential figures in the game.

He completed his journalism course at the Universitat Autònoma de Bellaterra (Barcelona) in the summer of 1991. Thereafter, he moved to Liverpool where he worked as a correspondent on the oldest newspaper in Europe, Diari de Barcelona, and the magazines Lecturas and Cambio 16.

In 1996, he was named English football correspondent of the soccer magazine Don Balón. And in 1997, he was contracted by Sky Sports to become the regular insider for the new highlight show which eventually would be called Revista de la Liga.

In the popular Spanish football show he has broken some of the biggest news of recent years: the arrival of David Beckham to Real Madrid and their signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, the departure of Fernando Torres from Liverpool to Chelsea, the departure of Cesc Fábregas from Arsenal to Barcelona, etc.

In the summer of 2013 he became a B licenced coach and he is working towards the A licence. Guillem was approached by Antonio Tapia, Spanish coach, to become part of his technical staff that Tapia was putting together for possible work in Scotland.

He has written songs with two bands, Best Boy Grip and King and Scholes. Both EPs have been published in the summer of 2014.

John Le Carré, Robert Daws, Stieg Larsson, Sam Benady and Mary Chiappe – numerous crimewriters have been drawn in recent years to set their books in Gibraltar. What is it about the Rock that makes it such a fascinating setting for a thriller? My first experience of Gibraltar came with a chance visit fifteen years ago. But it wasn’t until a few years later, when I returned having just completed a law degree, that I saw the potential for a crime series featuring a Gibraltarian lawyer as protagonist. Spike Sanguinetti, resident of Chicardo’s Passage, denizen of the Gibraltar Law Courts, was born. Since then, I’ve been back to the Rock again and again, moving silently (and sometimes not so silently) through the streets with a notebook and camera, trying to understand its secrets and intricacies. Gibraltar’s compact size yet vast cultural and political history offers up an abundance of plot possibilities, and Spike is about to embark on his fifth outing (A Thousand Cuts, published by Bloomsbury in January 2017). Setting is the vital component of each book in the series – and as the first three have recently been optioned by a television company, it seems that the Rock’s potential for the small screen is being recognised too.

Clive and Geraldine Finlayson, directors of the local museum will be discussing the Gorham’s Cave project and the successful bid for World Heritage status which was achieved earlier this year. Both have been stalwarts of local natural history undertakings with vast background in the fields of research and archaeology.

Closely linked to the world of academia, Clive Finlayson is also the organiser of the Calpe International Conferences in Gibraltar.

Meet Guillem Balague at an exclusive event with drinks and canapes at the Sunborn Hotel.

Former Foreign Secretary David Owen has written a new history of the pivotal British War Cabinet meetings of May 1940. The minutes and documents reveal just how close Britain came to seeking a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany. Cabinet’s Finest Hour is both the story of Churchill’s determination to fight on and a paean to the Cabinet system of government. The Cabinet system, all too often disparaged as messy and cumbersome, worked in Britain’s interests and ensured a democracy on the brink of defeat had the courage to assess the alternatives to fighting on. The post-war denial of both the existence and legitimacy of the war cabinet debates had far-reaching consequences for Britain’s foreign and defence policy for the rest of the century, starting over the Suez Crisis but reaching its nadir over the Second Iraq War. The way Labour transformed itself from 1931 to 1938 and the cross-party alliance in Parliament from 1938 to 1940 bear lessons for today.

‘David Owen’s masterly analysis makes a powerful case for seeing the vital British decision to fight on against the Nazis in May 1940 as the greatest moment for Cabinet government and collaborative politics. His thoughtful, cogent, well-researched and well-written book is all the more persuasive coming from a former foreign secretary, and for being supported by the key contemporaneous documents. An exciting, thought-provoking read, with profound contemporary as well as historical relevance.’ 

- Andrew Roberts

‘David Owen has thought deeply about these issues - and is always worth reading.’ 

- Dominic Lawson 

‘Cabinet’s Finest Hour is a fascinating read.’

- Bernard Donoughue

Meditation is a buzz word today. From corporates to universities, everyone is being encouraged to practice meditation daily. But what does that mean? How does meditation work? Is there a process? How will it help you and what will it mean for you?

What happens when you find your centre? Is it possible to feel calm and centred in the office or in the midst of a challenging situation? 

With practical meditative techniques, find out how you can centre yourself in the unmoving, calm and silent Centre which is a reflection of your Authentic Self.

Join us for this special half day workshop on the theory and practice of meditation. 

A talk on the ill-fated quest of Sir John Franklin's expedition to discover the fabled Northwest Passage, his subsequent disappearance, and Lady Franklin's consequent commission to find her husband of Orkney-born Dr John Rae, Hudson Bay Company respected cartographer of that region's rugged, inhospitable coastline.

In time, with the help of Inuit, Rae found some of the crew, all perished. The recent find of one of Franklin's ships on the sea bed in the Southern Victoria Strait, HMS Erebus, indicates his two ships were caught in ice, and the expedition ended. The vessel's discovery rekindled interest in this heroic tale, in the doing restoring the reputation of John Rae, and vindicating his research findings hitherto trashed by Lady Franklin.

The celebrated painter, printmaker and Royal Academician, Dr Barbara Rae, CBE RA., relates the main elements of the now famous tale, its twists and turns, and her own journey to create painterly studies of the places visited by her illustrious namesake.

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I’ll begin….  Join Kathy Wallis for an hour of traditional storytelling and an exploration of how storytelling can be used in oral history projects, as part of the curriculum for all ages, and for emotional literacy. Bring your own story to share or an idea which can be woven in words.  Kathy dispels the myth that storytelling is only for children and will share stories that can be used for a myriad of purpose .. come and join us sharing of some of the best traditional stories from a variety of cultures.  Be taken on a journey but be brought safely home. 

Choose ten key moments in the story of British history from 1066 to the present day and what would they be? TAKE AN EPIC VOYAGE through the history of Britain with Christopher Lloyd and Andy Forshaw’s amazing new What on Earth? Wallbook Timeline of British History! The timeline, developed in collaboration with the National Trust, takes readers on a journey through the complete history of Britain from the Giant’s Causeway 60 million years ago to the present day. Using a giant 8m version of the timeline as a backdrop and an all-new technicolour coat of many pockets, Christopher stops off at 10 of the most significant moments that have shaped our island story over 60 million years. Talk suitable for all ages 6 – 106. 

Richard will be discussing his life and career in horse racing, as a traveller, adventurer and photographer. Talking about the wonders he discovered along his South Pole expedition

Over the last 10-12 years the poems I have written have gathered a following I never expected. This following encouraged me to the point where I am now publishing this book of poems, HEAD, HEART & SOUL.  

Being bilingual some poems have created themselves in English, others in Spanish, but they all tell of my pains and my joys, of loves found and loves lost, of our world today and its questions about any tomorrows. 

My artist friends have each added their illustrations to my words, making the book far more interesting and readable, and they all have contributed their talent freely.  Every penny for the sale of this book is being donated to the Calpe House Fund, a hospice in London for all patients from Gibraltar that need to go there for specialised medical treatment.

I am grateful to the Festival for inviting me and allowing me to share with you both a selection of poems on various topics and the story how they came about. Every poem is a story.

Thank you for travelling along my words together in this prestigious Literary Festival.  

How many plays did Shakespeare write? Which feature ghosts? Which are non-fiction and which are made up? Celebrate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare with festival favourite Christopher Lloyd and a giant version of his What on Earth? Wallbook of Shakespeare, published in collaboration with The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. This unique voyage through the plays of Shakespeare is suitable for all ages and explores the world of human emotion using different colours to represent jealousy (green), anger (red), riches (gold), love (purple), terror (white) and magic (black). Using a series of props hidden inside a coat of many multi-coloured pockets pockets, the audience explores the world of Shakespeare as a gateway to the entire spectrum of human nature.

Bestselling author Louis de Bernieres takes the audience through his writing career from the international bestseller and film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Birds Without Wings, Notwithstanding: Stories from an English Village and his most recent book The Dust that Falls from Dreams. He will also be reading from his recent collection of poetry: Of Love and Desire.

Gibraltarian actress, singer-songwriter and author Carmen Gomez will be presenting her autobiography ‘Carmen Gomez: Memories bound up With Life,’ which charts her life in 1970’s London as a young aspiring actress struggling to survive in the world of show business.

Paddy Ashdown will discuss his latest book Game of Spies: The Secret Agent, the Traitor and the Nazi, Bordeaux 1942-1944

A riveting three-way spy story set in occupied France.

In the tradition of Ben MacIntyre, ‘Game of Spies’ tells the story of a lethal spy triangle in Bordeaux between 1942 and 1944 in Bordeaux – and of France’s greatest betrayal by aristocratic and right-wing Resistance leader Andre Grandclement.

The story centres on three men: one British, one French and one German and the duel they fought out in an atmosphere of collaboration, betrayal and assassination, in which comrades sold fellow comrades, Allied agents and downed pilots to the Germans, as casually as they would a bottle of wine. It is a story of SOE, treachery, bed-hopping and executions in the city labelled ‘la plus collaboratrice’ in the whole of France.

Popular actress, writer and all-round wit Maureen Lipman takes a wry and satirical look at celebrity in her latest work, dubbed a Lipman-agerie. 

Lipman turns her satirical mind to animal/human character mash-ups such as Brad Pitbull, Angie-lemur Jolie, Johnny Deppard, Jake Gorillanhall, Lu-seal Ball, Andy Warthog, Joan Crow-ford, Vanessie Redgrave, Harry Otter, Squirrelly Clinton and Giraffa Nadal. The idea came after Lipman did a doodle of a steer in a dinner jacket and named it Oscar Wildebeest. One character led to another and ended up in a lavishly illustrated book.

Lipman is an Olivier-winning actress who has played many leading theatrical, television and film roles during a long and successful career. She recently starred in the West End productions of Harvey and My Mother Never Said I Should and presented the six-part television series Treasures of Britain. Lipman writes regularly for Standpoint and Spectator Health and is author of a number of bestselling books.

Join all the celebrated speakers and performers at this year’s literary festival on the Rock, for the splendid opening dinner prepared by the chefs of the Sunborn Yacht Hotel.

The price of this event includes reception, three-course meal, wines and coffee.